News

We are pleased to announce that Research and Development Laboratory of the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, headed by prof. dr hab. Ewa Łojkowska, received on 20th of October 2020 Accreditation Certificate No. AB1760 granted by Polish Center for Accreditation.

The accreditation was obtained thanks to great commitment of the Laboratory employees: Dr. Wojciech Śledź (technical manager), Dr. Natasza Kaczyńska (quality manager), Dr. Agata Motyka-Pomagruk (deputy quality manager) and MSc Weronika Babińska.

The first step in our journey for obtaining PCA accreditation was to receive a certificate confirming our work accordingly to ISO17025 standards in March 2018. The laboratory group was supported by the EU HORIZON 2020 project “Structural Transformation to Attain Responsible BIOSciences” (STARBIOS2) and by Innovation Incubator 2.0 Program.

It is worth noting that we are the first laboratory at the University of Gdańsk to be certified by the Polish Center for Accreditation.

Dr. Agata Motyka-Pomagruk was awarded the Prime Minister’s award for a distinctive doctoral dissertation.

The dissertation “Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of bacteria from Dickeya solani species and development of novel control methods against phytopathogens” was appreciated for identification and description of the full genetic pool of Dickeya solani. This bacterium is the causative agent of very important potato diseases. The outcomes of the presented thesis will find applications in agricultural practice.

The supervisor of the doctoral thesis of Dr. Agata Motyka-Pomagruk was Professor Ewa Łojkowska, the co-supervisor was Professor Alessio Mengoni from the University of Florence and the assistant supervisor was Dr. Eng. Wojciech Śledź.

The dissertation was prepared in cooperation with the group of prof. Alessio Mengoni from the University of Florence and with the research team of Professor Paweł Pohl from Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

24.07.2020 Patent Office of the Republic of Poland granted us a patent for a new invention entitled ‘Method to eradicate bacterial phytopathogens with the use of direct current atmospheric pressure glow discharge’ (Application no. P.419246 from 2016-10-26) 🙂

This invention is the outcome of collaboration between University of Gdansk and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.  It enables effective inactivation of plant pathogenic bacteria in a flow-through plasma-based system. The idea is to inhibit the spread of disease-causing agents in the natural environment. 

Prof.  Ewa Łojkowska from University of Gdansk will be heading a new Horizon 2020 project entitled Modifying Institutions by Developing the Gender Equality Plans (MINDtheGEPs).

Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy) is going to be the lider of this international consortium. Apart from University of Gdansk, the following institutions shall participate in realisation of this project: National Research Council (Italy), Institute of Technology Tralee (Ireland), Jagiellonian University (Poland), School of Electrical Engineering-University of Belgrade (Serbia), Fundacion para la promocion de la Innovacion, Investigacion Y Desarrollo Tecnologico en la Industria de la Automocion de Galicia (Spain), Knowledge and Innovation (Italy), Uppsala University (Sweden) and Elsevier (The Netherlands).

Founding for this initiative reached 3 mln euro.

The main aim of this project is to create appropriate plans for institutions that would lead to promotion of gender equality among men and women in science and innovations.

Our cold atmospheric plasma-based invention designated for eradication of bacterial phytopatigens has been awarded with a distinction during  VIIth edition of Eureka! DGP competition:)

It is the outcome of fruitful collaboration between University of Gdansk and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. Authors:

• Dr. eng. Anna Dzimitrowicz
• Dr. Agata Motyka-Pomagruk
• Prof. WUST Dr. eng. Piotr Jamróz
• Dr. eng. Wojciech Śledź
• MSc Weronika Babińska
• Prof. Ewa Łojkowska
• Prof. Paweł Pohl

Thank you for appreciation of our efforts:)

Prof. Ewa Łojkowska together with other scientists from 15 European countries is calling for establishment of European Foundation for the Prevention of Environmental and Health Crises in an open letter published in the prestigious Nature journal (Nature 582, 488 (2020), doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01869-6).

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed problems in coordination among European countries, especially when quick actions are needed. 

Independent scientific advisory committee will support tackling with environmental threats in the future.

Prof. Ewa Łojkowska will be heading a new projekt entitled ‘Rola i mechanizm regulacji ekspresji genów kodujących dioksygenazy w adaptacji roślin do wzrostu i rozwoju w warunkach panujących na lądzie’ (2019/35/O/NZ1/02751) awarded in the NCN Preludium Bis 1 competition. The acquired funding equals 532 800 zł.

Another new project under the title ‘Zastosowanie zimnych plazm atmosferycznych generowanych w kontakcie z przepływającym roztworem do bezpośredniej degradacji antybiotyków oraz obniżenia oporności wielolekowej w środowisku naturalnym’ (2019/35/D/ST8/04107) was attributed to Dr. eng. Anna Dzimitrowicz in the NCN Sonata 15 competition. This project will be realized in a consortium between Wroclaw University of Science and Technology and Univeristy of Gdańsk. From our side it will be headed by Dr eng. Wojciech Śledź. The funding equals 796 404 zł.

Head of our Laboratory, Professor Ewa Łojkowska, was selected to lead the Commitee of Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 2020-2023:)

17.02.2020 Patent Office of the Republic of Poland granted us a patent for a new invention entitled ,,Method of production of a plant growth stimulant, the preparation obtained in this way and application of this formulation for plant growth promotion, especially of species of high economic value”:)

This invention is a result of fruitful collaboration between University of Gdańsk and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.  The authors:

• Dr Agata Motyka-Pomagruk
• Dr eng. Anna Dzimitrowicz
• MSc Weronika Babińska
• Dr eng. Wojciech Śledź
• Professor Paweł Pohl
• Dr eng. Piotr Jamróz, Professor of WUST
• MSc Dominik Terefinko
• Professor Ewa Łojkowska